Night of Despair

Chapter 67: Journey 65

On the foremost jeep,

Zhao Zhenghong was single-handedly inspecting his specially modified pistol; this gun, altered from its original design, bore no resemblance to the standard models on the market. Its internal magazine could be loaded with various bullet types to cater to different scenarios.

Such as luminous stone bullets, sedative bullets, explosive bullets, and armor-piercing rounds.

He had carried each type with him. Although the bullets were expensive to be custom-made, this preparation was for the countless unknowns they might encounter.

“The White Python’s strength is still considerable, and coupled with his former identity as a postman, he could handle many troubles in the wilderness with ease, yet he fell. So we must be extremely careful,” he removed the magazine to check and confirmed that it was fully loaded with bullets.

“According to the latest intelligence, the post office near Baiqiu Village is still in operation, which means that there have been survivors there, and Evil Shadow has not completely destroyed the area,” Xu Yang said gravely from the same vehicle.

“Are you saying that it wasn’t Evil Shadow, but human calamity?” Zhao Zhenghong’s eyes narrowed slightly behind his glasses.

“Pretty much. There must be a master protecting them. Or perhaps they have set their sights on them too. But it doesn’t make sense; if it were a master, they would not leave that person there, they should have evacuated them early to avoid risks,” Xu Yang speculated.

“We’ll know once we go there and see for ourselves,” Zhao Zhenghong changed his magazine, this one primarily loaded with armor-piercing rounds and explosives.

“If it’s human calamity, we need to be cautious; even White Python had fallen,” Xu Yang spoke but was interrupted before he could finish.

“How many men would you need to surround and kill White Python?” Zhao Zhenghong asked.

“…..Seven or eight, at the very least,” Xu Yang thought for a moment and answered with a frown.

“But, we have twenty-four men,” Zhao Zhenghong chuckled, “plus I am here. Postmen are not bad; I’ve had encounters with them before. White Python, an ousted former postman, is already far from his peak in all respects. He’s just average at best.”

He sighed, “Actually, I didn’t want to make a move, but…so much effort and resources invested, and not a ripple in return. I can’t be content without checking it out myself.”

“The captain is naturally more formidable. As long as we detect something wrong from afar, we’ll retreat immediately,” Xu Yang said, nodding.

A convoy of vehicles, four in total, was driving on the main road straight towards Baiqiu Village.

Soon it was midday, and the cars slowly entered the forest near Baiqiu Village.

The forest road was winding and lengthy, its sides covered by dense canopies of large trees, with barely any direct sunlight visible.

Xu Yang was always holding a Red Value detector, scrutinizing carefully.

“We should be arriving soon. Cars are much faster than walking; we made it here in just a few hours,” he said gravely as he looked around.

“Something…is not quite right here,” suddenly, Zhao Zhenghong stood up, not caring that the car was still moving, he stood up straight to look at the ground.

On the somewhat neglected road, there was a clear black tire mark in the center.

The tire mark was very conspicuous, identical to the puncture-resistant tires he had seen before, that appeared only on special military vehicles.

“There’s something ahead. Military vehicle!” Zhao Zhenghong stated quickly.

“Huh?” Xu Yang was startled, “Why would a military vehicle be here at this time? Could it be that person has been exposed?”

“Right, if we can find it, others can too. But…” Zhao Zhenghong examined the marks on the ground closely. “These tires have old-style puncture-resistant strips; they can’t be from the active service people in Baihe City.”

He pondered for a moment.

“Let’s split up; Xu Yang, you go ahead and capture the person directly, take half the crew with you. I’ll take the others and check out this military vehicle situation,” he was still not at ease and wanted to investigate the details. It was possible that White Python’s disappearance was connected to this military vehicle.

“Got it!”

“Things might not be right, don’t get tangled up with them, take action the moment you see the person, secure them and pull out. Be quick!” Zhao Zhenghong instructed.

“Yes!”

Soon, two jeeps split off and headed towards a fork in the road ahead.

Xu Yang, leading eleven team members, was hurrying towards the location of the cave safe house where Yu Hong was.

They brought portable explosives, a specialized sedative gun, and armor-piercing rounds. They were prepared for storming the place.

After all, their last encounter with that cave safe house left a deep impression. If it was the dwelling of the Large Pyroxene Stone maker, blowing it open could yield worthwhile spoils.

*

*

*

Inside the cave safe house,

Yu Hong picked up a pot of thick soup and started pouring it into his stomach.

Having finished the soup in one gulp, he let out a satisfied exhale, stretched comfortably, and stood up.

His seventh strand of Inner Qi had now been condensed. The Training Method showed much more progress than before, fortifying his legs while enhancing his Inner Qi, and it also increased his body strength during weight-bearing exercises.

He could clearly feel that his strength had significantly increased since practicing the Heavy Leg Skill.

The most straightforward comparison was the firewood cutting outside the safe house.

Due to insufficient firewood, Yu Hong often sought out somewhat dry, nearly dead large trees, directly chopping them down, then breaking and dragging them to the cave, hence speeding up the accumulation of fire supplies.

Before, to move a felled tree, he had to split it into more than ten parts.

But just yesterday, he tried again and discovered it only needed to be split into five parts to be quickly dragged back.

Remembering this, Yu Hong glanced at his pistol, still undergoing an enhancement countdown. The pistol was customized to his specifications, with an enhanced targeting function added and concealed installation in the sleeve of the bulletproof vest.

He attempted to increase the number of bullets, but regrettably, Black Mark indicated insufficient integrity, so he could only make adjustments based on the original design.

Thus, he also added a silencing feature, to avoid loud noises that could attract trouble.

Lastly, the power of the bullets.

He chose to enhance the bullets’ impact force, their explosive power, and included Large Pyroxene Stone in them, allowing the pistol to be utilized against large monsters like Big Skin and effective against Shadows and Evil Shadows.

Because the enhancement included many features, the countdown suddenly increased to over two days.

“Just over two hours left… It seems that enhancing the handgun isn’t cost-effective. Next time, I should choose to enhance other items… At best, this thing can be used as a one-time emergency solution.”

Yu Hong picked up the handgun that was still being enhanced and fiddled with it. He had already discovered that as long as it wasn’t damaged or disassembled too far, there wouldn’t be any issues.

After playing with the gun for a while, he suddenly heard the distant sound of a bell coming from outside the door.

His expression changed, and he grabbed the gun and walked to the door, sliding the covering board aside to look out.

The sunlight outside was bright and everything was peaceful.

The forest trees were somewhat sparse, and the dead leaves on the ground fluttered slightly in the wind.

To the right, in an open space, were the remains of a fire he used for scorching wood.

Other than that, there was no other movement.

“Is it the wind? Or did a branch fall and happen to hit the bell?” Yu Hong observed for a while but didn’t detect anything out of the ordinary. After thinking it over, he decided to return and put on the freshly cleaned enhanced polar bear suit.

This new suit gave him a strong sense of security, with extremely strong protective capabilities.

After doing all this, he sat inside the cave, waiting for the handgun enhancement to be completed.

Meanwhile, just a hundred meters from the cave, on a sloped forested area.

Xu Yang was leading a team and observing the scouts who had quickly returned. @@novelbin@@

“How is it?”

“No problems. There are signs of someone living near the cave; our target is clearly still there,” the scout replied quickly. After all, as a member of the allied forces, his professional skills wouldn’t be so lacking, even if not perfect.

“That’s good. Ah Hong, later you take two people up to r7, stick close to the cave, and blast the door,” Xu Yang ordered. “We have to complete the mission as quickly as possible; grasp the person, and then withdraw.”

“Going straight for the explosives, what if the target gets injured or killed in the blast?” a team member asked, frowning.

“Just keep a safe distance. Under exceptional circumstances, we have to capture the person first,” Xu Yang said, looking at one of the team members. “Monkey, you calculate the blast location.”

“Okay,” Monkey responded with a low nod.

“Good, now check your equipment and time everything,” Xu Yang said quickly.

The team swiftly self-checked to ensure there were no issues, and Xu Yang raised his fingers.

Three fingers for the countdown.

3.

2.

1.

Go!

Click.

Suddenly, a crisp sound interrupted their signal to move.

Xu Yang’s heart skipped a beat, his gaze immediately fixing on the direction of the sound, his handgun quietly unlocked and raised in his hand, targeting that area.

Above the slope, the sound of footsteps trampling on branches continued to approach.

They were heavy and powerful footsteps, marked by a certain indescribable rhythm.

Before long.

A towering figure, over two meters tall and muscular, slowly emerged from the depths of the forest.

This person was dressed in black, like a small mountain, and seemed as large as two or three of them put together.

He was wearing a bulky bulletproof suit, and his helmet was a heavily reinforced, spiky, and strange design.

But those weren’t the most important things.

It was the man’s hands.

Those hands were covered in dark red congealed bloodstains, and the thick alloy gloves had remnants of brain-like viscous substance stuck in between their fingers.

As the breeze blew, a strong stench of blood emanated from the newcomer. At the same time, an intense and terrifying sense of oppression spread.

“Target successfully intercepted,” a low voice came from beneath the helmet. “Today is truly lucky.”

Seeing the sudden appearance of this person, those present were initially alert, but quickly, some among them recognized the identity of the stranger. Especially Xu Yang.

At first, his gaze was only puzzled and tense, but as more and more features matched the person he was thinking of, his expression slowly began to change.

“You are… the Butcher!” Xu Yang’s face contorted, his voice beginning to tremble. “…The Butcher Xu Fan!”

His whole body was sweating profusely; even though he was surrounded by a dozen teammates, he felt as if he was alone and helplessly exposed, with a chilling sensation rapidly climbing up his back, rendering him motionless.

The Butcher Xu Fan.

A black market mercenary of top-drawer danger level, two notches above the White Python, a murderous machine who had killed over a thousand people!

For those labeled as thousand-man monsters, killing was as simple as eating or drinking. These individuals were thorough killing machines; without a challenge from someone of equal strength or a military encirclement, they could not be stopped by others.

How could such a monster possibly be encountered in this place?! How could it be possible?!

At that moment, Xu Yang’s mind was in utter chaos, his heart racing to its limit, his entire nervous system on high alert for the other.

He desperately wanted to disbelieve that the other party was a counterfeit, but the tangible pressure and fear told him otherwise…

That guy…

That guy… was real!!